Former Grand Mufti of Lebanon Mohammed Rashid Qabbani Issues Fatwa: It Is an Islamic Duty to Wage Jihad to Liberate Palestine from the "Foreign Jewish Occupiers," All Peace Agreements with Them Null and Void Former Grand Mufti of Lebanon Mohammed Rashid Qabbani issued a fatwa according to which Palestinians and all Arabs and Muslims have a duty to wage Jihad "to liberate Palestine from the occupation of the Jews of the Balfour Declaration." Sheikh Qabbani compared the liberation of Palestine today to the Jihad waged by the Prophet Muhammad, by Omar ibn Al-Khattab, and by Saladin, and declared that Islam forbids the Palestinians and all Arab and Muslim countries "to surrender, to reconcile, to make peace treaties, or to concede a single inch of Arab Palestinian land to the foreign Jewish occupiers." Sheikh Qabbani's address aired on Al-Mayadeen TV on May 16.

Hamas Leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar: We Are Coordinating with Hizbullah, Iran on an Almost Daily BasisHamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar said, in an interview with the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV channel, that with the help of Iran, Hamas has managed to significantly develop its capabilities. Sinwar added that Iran has provided Hamas’s Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades and other Gaza factions "a lot of money, equipment, and expertise." He further said that his organization had "excellent" relations with Hizbullah and that there is coordination on an "almost daily" basis between the two organizations, and described Hamas’s relations with Iran, the IRGC, and Qasem Solimani as "strong and warm." The interview aired on May 21.

All Dogs Go to … Synagogue?

(November 29, 2011 / JNS) “Fluffy” Shindler barks when he sees Friday night candles and understands that on Shabbat, it’s quieter than usual around the house. It was only natural, then, for the Shindlers to throw Fluffy a “bark mitzvah.”

About eight years ago in Monsey, NY, the perceptive Bichon Frise donned a yarmulke and placed his paw on a Chumash (Bible) before 10 kids and a few neighbors at the Shindler household. The menu included cake for the crowd, and for Fluffy, a cookie decorated like a Torah scroll.

Subscribe to The JNS Daily Syndicate by email and never miss our top stories

“We didn’t do a big spiel, but it was cute,” Wendy Shindler told JointMedia News Service.

While Fluffy’s bark mitzvah was low-key affair, some bark mitzvahs have rivaled the extravagance of their human-focused counterparts. That was the case in December 2004, when New York cabaret singer Mark Nadler treated his dog, Admiral Rufus K. Boom (“Boomie”), to a party that included a chopped liver sculpture, bartenders and a lavish buffet in his Riverdale, N.Y., home.

According to the New York Times, Boomie’s bark mitzvah featured yarmulkes for guests with the dog’s name and the date printed inside, as well as “many checks” written for $50 or more as gifts—though some attendees gave Boomie rawhide chews. The party invitations, sent to dozens of friends, said the bark mitzvah’s purpose was “to share a special day in our lives when my dog, Admiral Rufus K. Boom, will celebrate his bark mitzvah in the tradition of our ancestors.”

In response to one guest who claimed Boomie “doesn’t look” Jewish, Nadler responded “he chanted his arf-tara this afternoon,” a play on the haftara portion read at traditional bar mitzvahs, according to the New York Times.

In August 2008, David Best, CEO of The Doctor’s Channel, organized a $10,000 bark mitzvah for “Elvis” and 100 guests—including celebrity sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, according to Fox News.

Footage of Elvis’s bark mitzvah on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh2qquQfy04&feature=relmfu) shows the canine motioning on the bimah in a synagogue sanctuary, flanked by two men serving as the gabbaim and stuffed dogs “watching” in front as a human reads the “arf-tara” in sync with Elvis’s movements.

“He has a great personality and everyone loves him,” David Best said of Elvis, according to Fox News.

The bark mitzvah routine, however, isn’t always jovially received. Responding to a New York Times article in 1997—the year when the term “bark mitzvah” was first used—Rabbi Charles A. Kroloff of Temple Emanu-El in Westfield, NJ, wrote a letter to the editor expressing that the practice is “nothing less than a desecration of a cherished Jewish tradition and degrades some of the central principles of Jewish life.”

“I enjoy a good time as much as the next person,” Kroloff wrote. “But not at the expense of religious traditions that need strengthening, not desecrating.”

California-based author Shari Cohen told JointMedia News Service that she was “exceptionally aware” of the concerns surrounding bark mitzvahs when writing Alfie’s Bark Mitzvah (Five Star Publications, 2007), a children’s book on the subject. She consulted with Conservative rabbis on the project, asking them if bark mitzvahs were too much of a “boundary pusher.”

Most of the rabbis were enthusiastic about the idea of the book or at least open to it, Cohen said, but a select few “told me what I already knew—‘maybe you should not go in this direction.’” Therefore, Cohen said she was extra careful before finalizing the book, re-working it several times with publisher Linda Radke.

Cohen, a longtime dog owner herself, said the goal of Alfie’s Bark Mitzvah is to teach kids about traditional bar mitzvah themes in a fun and different way. The book comes with a CD of songs by Cantor Marcelo Gindlin, who along with Cohen continues to promote the book at fairs and synagogues five years after it hit shelves.

“I wanted to do [the book] not only with warmth and humor and teaching, but also with song,” Cohen said, explaining that she gave Alfie human-like senses such as the nerves a bar mitzvah boy feels before reading his Torah portion.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) slogan says animals “are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment,” but PETA does not condemn the bark mitzvah practice. On a webpage titled “Let’s Have a Dog Party!” (http://features.peta.org/DogParty/photos.asp), PETA asks “Did Bingo get a bark mitzvah?” and encourages users to “show everyone how to throw a bash to bark about” by uploading their party photos.”

Fluffy Shindler, now 9 years old and living in Bergenfield, NJ, received his bark mitzvah at the age of 1 and a half, but most male dogs have been known to celebrate the occasion at either 13 months or 13 years (the equivalent of 91 in dog years) old.

Despite Fluffy’s usual perceptiveness when it comes to Jewish tradition, he merely barked and “didn’t understand anything” at the party, Wendy Shindler said. It was more about simple fun than anything else.

“We thought it would be very cute to do this for him,” Shindler told JointMedia News Service.